D Carol Adams presents "The Sexual Politics of Meat." Adams' lecture and slide show, based on her 1990 book, analyzes the feminist aspects of vegetarianism. Rackham Aud., 7:30 p.m. 8 Tuesday March 23, 1999 r lclymoailg Tomorrow in Daily Arts: Daily Arts previews the School of Music performance of Mozart's last opera, "The Magic Flute." -', *;. .. Eastwood saves Crime' from death Premise of 'Forces' can't weather storms By Laura Flyer Daily Arts Writer Reporter is assigned human-inter- est story about a criminal. Sinks teeth into files and finds out guy is imniocent. Reporter fights against all odds, triumphs, justice prevails. Once again it would sdem like another film bites the dust with the same self-righteous plot and all-too- familiar character types, but some- thing about "True Crime" elevates it to a higher degree. After reaching critical heights in 1992 with the Oscar-winning Unforgiven" and then fading from view, Clint Eastwood shows his flare for directing in "True Crime" that has been absent from his recent films. Eastwood also stars as newspaper reporter Steve Everett, who has True Crime At Ann Arbor 1&2 and Showcase some issues in his life that negate his credibility with his co- workers. After sleeping with The New York Times' owner's wife, married- man Everett moves to California and wastes no time jumping into Washington) who is hours away from being put to death. While he insists he has a "nose" for such things, editor in chief, Alan (James Woods), goes crazy over Everett's seemingly implausible hunches and threatens to fire him if he doesn't stick to the right story and stop playing Santa Claus. Everett has to struggle with time constraints and his editor and edi- tor-in-chief breathing down his neck in order to solve the problem of finding the truth. "True Crime" loses big time with respect to the fact that it's trying to portray the justice system realisti- cally, real-life problems, etc., all of the clues fall into Evertt's lap too easily. Everett's idealism; in other words, never catches up with reali- ty. Because Everett knows no other way, he will continue to expect things to work out the way he wants them to. Eastwood's gruff voice and hal- lowed eyes take a little getting used to, perhaps because his fea- tures make him seem a little too profound for a reporter who con- sistently cheats on his wife. Still, his subtle humor and quirky man- nerisms balance out the question- ability of his character by the end of the film. Given plenty of wisecracks and witty dialogue, James Woods deliv- ers with panache. Washington as the accused criminal who refuses to back down from his contentions innocence, also carries his character well. Touching sequences of bonding time with Everett and his daughter (Kate) are memorable. Anxious about solving the mystery of the murder case, Everett decides to turn a leisurely day at the zoo with Kate at "Fast Zoo," where he plunks her in a cart and whisks her through the park in less than 30 minutes. Everett gets Kate injured, and, just like the film and the moralistic theme it purports, Santa Claus does- n't exist; you can't set everything right all the time. Forces of Nature At Showcase \ * 4' y f i - By Kristin Long Daily Arts Writer The mere title of the latest Ben Affleck-Sandra Bullock comedy "Forces of Nature" suggests that the film's premise rests on chance and coincidence, and how one might overcome the obsta- cles imposed thereby and live a happy life While "Forces" does rely heavily on chance, it abus- es its premise and weakly tries to combine elements of artistic expres- sion and pure human emotion. The result, howev- er, is a contrived series of coinci- dences that just leaves us annoyed with the plot. The problems begin from the outset. At his bachelor party in New York, Ben Holmes (Affleck) reveals that he is a rather uptight fellow who lives within the box, so to speak, and the thought of doing any- thing wild or even mildly adventurous makes him nauseous. For Ben's last night of freedom, his best man, played by Steve Zahn ("Out of Sight"), hires a stripper to give him a taste of the "good" life one last time. But the good times cease when Ben's grandfather has a heart attack. This forces Ben to postpone his departure for Savannah (the site of his wedding) with his fiancee (Maura Tierney), and opens the door wide open for Ben to meet com- plications galore. How convenient. After an accident at the airport, Ben meets the wild and obnoxious Sarah (Sandra Bullock), who for some odd rea- son, Ben takes on as a travel companion - despite the fact that his first impres- sion of her is one of fear and oddness. Perhaps it seems logical that this straight-laced engaged man accompany this eccentric crazy woman down the coast, but then it also must be logical that he experience a hurricane, a hail storm, a train mishap and get on a bus bound for Miami, all over the course of two days. What a great use of convenience - er, coincidence. Plausibility is a major death trap for the film's entire premise. While Ben's trying to fight clearly superficial feelings toward Sarah, his fiancee Bridgit is fight- ing off the affection of old flame Steve (David Strickland). Whether or not she still has feelings for him is unclear throughout the entire film, but it does nonetheless make for, well, conve i contrast to Ben's fling. The acting in the film is equally pr lematic. Affleck's actions seem forced and excessive, leading us to believe That little screentime makes us like our "Good Will Hunting" and "Shakespeafd in Love" friend better. Bullock reprises her obnoxious, free-spirited "Speed" 'ole. Blythe Danner makes a poor appreairince as Bridgit's drunken mother. "Forces of Nature" succeeds only in its unexpected and almost real conclusi As the story progresses, we begin to eas- ily predict what will happen, thus the unanticipated ending redeems the film ever so slightly. From the goofy cinematic rain dops used throughout the film to the lame adventures, even the most imaginative mind won't appreciate the fantastic ele- ments of the plot. The combination of real emotions and fabricated occurrences makes for an unpleasant fit. Everything in this movie is a matter# convenience - awkward convenience - that begs for some force of nature to make it all just go away. Courtesy of DreamWorks Pictures Ben Affleck is talked into "stripping" by Sandra Bullock In "Forces of Nature." Napalm Death covers ground to St Andrew's bed with the editor of the Oakland Tribune's wife. And he refuses to ,abide by the office's no-smoking But while infidelity and a child- like, rebellious nature characterize :verett, he refuses to deceive or lie. "14e confesses to his crimes, and admits he's made some mistakes. So when his editor, Bob, assigns him a human-interest story straight from the jail cell of a criminal, he realizes he'd better play his cards right and not screw up, or face the consequences. Yet he stumbles upon some shady information that calls into question the culpability of the accused murderer (Isaiah By Adlin Rosli Daily Arts Writer British group Napalm Death swore the last time it played Detroit that it would never come back again. On its last trek across the states, its performance at Harpo's was disrupted by fas- cist white power audience Napalm members who insisted on Death' intimidating the crowd and St. Andrew's Hall causing fights. Tonight at 8 p.m. Despite the Harpo's experi- ence, however, fans of the group and heavy music in gen- eral can rejoice. Napalm Death will be back in Detroit on March 23 in a different venue, St. Andrew's Hall. Despite a venue and its location only being a small factor in what type of crowd will show up for a performance, the fact that St. Andrew's Hall is nestled only paces away from Greektown and a police station definite- ly helps the overall atmosphere and safety of the show. The group has a long history of vocal anti-racism views. One of the group's popular tee shirts reads, "Nazi Punks, Fuck Off" and singer Greenway is an active member of the Anti Racist Action (ARA) group. "I'm very forward about my convictions, and I just think its stupid for these white power fascists to come to shows for the sake of bullying people around. It's not fair if kids come out to see a band and they get prevented from doing so because of these bullies you know?" Greenway said. Other members of the ARA in the Detroit area are also expected to attend the show, just in case. The group has had a long illustrious career, begin- ning in the early '80s as the prototype Grind-core band. Because of numerous line-up changes, none of the group's original members remain today. Previous members include diverse genre respecta- bles such as Bill Steer of death metal legend Carcass and Mick Harris of dance/dub act Scorn. Greer vay and company recently released their new albu called "Words From The Exit Wound," which h brought some unexpected attention to the group- Greenway remains modest about the attenti, however. "The thing about Napalm Death is tha: % don't get respect from anyone," he said. "Not tle punk scene, not the death metal scene ... we're like the shit stuck on the sole of your boots. We love doing what we do and that's why we do it, soiiwe really appreciate the attention we have been getting lately." At the same time, Greenway also mentioned4hat the group has no plans of mellowing its "crud head-first" style of musical brutality in the rrgw future despite such recent commercial flirtipig - "We've establish Napalm Death as what it is and I'm, still into the same things I liked from the begin-, ning," he said. "Bands like Motorhead and death metal bands, although the scene isn't as big as it used to be, there still is a scene. I still love that gut; feeling you get from the music, that heaviness." k- i, Chucky slashes into video store, / Ne t , nr "w' By Matthew Barrett Daily Arts Writer He's back and he's married. Yes, Chucky, star of the critically acclaimed "Child's Play" series returns in "Bride of Chucky," new on video shelves today. Chucky laughs it up with Jennifer Tilly as they try to devise a plan to save her career. Will the wily doll settle down after taking his holy vows? Will Jennifer Tilly ever work in this town again? Will they ever stop making horror sequels? Only the Chuck-man knows for sure. He's back, he's big and he's nominat- ed for an Oscar. Joe the mighty, Charlize Theron and Bill "Attack Back" Paxton all get together and brave the elements for the animal adventure "Mighty Joe Young." No word on whether Joe and Amy from "Congo" have replaced Ben and Gwyneth as the Courtesy of New Line Cinema and Universal Joan Allen portrays a perfect mother in "Pleasantville." Chucky's back in "Child's Play." hot new item in Hollywood. If so, King Kong is jealous. And finally, the special effects throwback "Pleasantville." Here Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon play modern teens who get sucked into their television set. Once inside their magic box, the two UNFORTUNAThLYTHIS IS WHERE PEOPLE ARE PUTTING TOO MANY RETIREMENT DOLLARS. Every year, a lot of people make a huge mistake on their taxes. They wind up sending Uncle Sam money they could be saving for retirement. Fortunately, that's a mistake you deferred, your money works even harder for you. 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